Pardon us for our late entry for this week’s watching golf episode… can we claim we were just waiting for our keyboard to thaw?
In case you hadn’t heard, the opening rounds Wednesday of the World Golf Championships Accenture Match Play Championships got put “on ice,” so to speak, after a snowstorm moved in on The Golf Club at Dove Mountain in Marana, Ariz. Snow? In Arizona? You bet. Watch Ricky Fowler get pasted by a snowball… what fun!
Seriously, there is a golf tournament going on, but my personal opinion is that match play does not make for a good TV viewing experience, especially in the first rounds when there are so many matches going on that it’s hard to keep track of where anybody is. In the spirit of March Madness, which is just around the corner, I say it’s best to wait until Saturday or Sunday to see if there are matches you care about, then tune in. If you’ve joined the PGA bracket competition you can track it live to see if your bracket is busted, like mine was thanks to Richard Sterne’s 1-up upset of Jason Dufner Thursday. As of this writing, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy are still playing. Update: Rory and Tiger are out. But you can still watch this weekend!
UPDATE 2: Here’s Saturday’s pairings:
Below are starting times for Saturday’s third-round of the World Golf Championships-Accenture Match Play Championship. Attached is an updated bracket with results from Friday’s second round included.
Saturday 2/23/13
Tee Time Match # Players
1 07:10 AM Match 49 Robert Garrigus vs Fredrik Jacobson
1 07:22 AM Match 50 Nicolas Colsaerts vs Matt Kuchar
1 07:34 AM Match 53 Shane Lowry vs Graeme McDowell
1 07:46 AM Match 54 Bubba Watson vs Jason Day
10 07:10 AM Match 51 Scott Piercy vs Steve Stricker
10 07:22 AM Match 52 Tim Clark vs Ian Poulter
10 07:34 AM Match 55 Gonzalo Fdez-Castano vs Webb Simpson
10 07:46 AM Match 56 Martin Kaymer vs Hunter Mahan
Round 4 – Approximate Starting Times: Saturday 11:30 a.m. to 12:40 p.m., one tee start
All times local Arizona MT
WGC ACCENTURE MATCH PLAY CHAMPIONSHIP
(all times Eastern)
TV COVERAGE
Thursday, Feb. 21 — Golf Channel, 12:30 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 22 — Golf Channel, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Saturday, Feb. 23 — Golf Channel, 12 p.m. — 2 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 24 — Golf Channel, 9 a.m. — 1 p.m.; CBS, 2 p.m. — 6 p.m.
LIVE ONLINE COVERAGE
Thursday and Friday, Golf Channel coverage via PGATour.com and GolfChannel.com; Saturday and Sunday, CBS coverage at CBSSports.com. Right now only Comcast cable subscribers can watch live online video on weekdays. NOTE: If you are using the PGA Mobile app to watch the CBS or Golf Channel online video, be advised that it only works with iOS phones and with some (not all) Android phones. There is no fix planned for the immediate future.
RADIO
SIRIUS XM (Satellite) Thursday-Friday-Saturday, and 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. The live broadcasts are also available to subscribers on the SiriusXM Internet Radio App and online at SiriusXM.com.
TOP TWITTER FEEDS TO FOLLOW
Geoff Shackelford — well known golf writer. If you’re not following Geoff you are missing the online boat.
Golf Channel — official Golf Channel feed
@PGATOUR — official PGA Twitter feed
@StephanieWei — great golf writer who is a Twitter fiend.
Doug Ferguson is the lead golf writer for AP. Good Twitter insights that often aren’t part of your wire-service lead.
WHAT’S THE COURSE LIKE?
The Golf Club at Dove Mountain is a Jack Nicklaus design, and we expect it plays better when the snow melts off. Not sure if there are chairlifts. End of snow jokes.
WHO WON THIS THING LAST TIME?
Hunter Mahan, over Rory McIlroy.
